A Magic Beyond All
by Potter47
Summary: The world changed greatly, that unusually warm day. It didn’t usually reach such heat in the mountains, where Hogwarts was situated, but that day it did, as if nature itself knew that the world would be shaken at its very foundations.


A Magic Beyond All  
_Potter47_

**__**

Written for Mugglenet's "Ending of Book Seven" contest.

The world changed greatly, that unusually warm day. It didn't usually reach such heat in the mountains, where Hogwarts was situated, but that day it did, as if nature itself knew that the world would be shaken at its very foundations. Scarcely any students had worn their robes to Hogsmeade that morning, and not a soul wore them back.

Of course, there were many souls that didn't _come _back.

The castle had not gone unscathed either. The great blast from down the road had scarred the stone greatly. The once pristine Hogwarts was blackened by the evil that had overwhelmed the world.

But how did this come about? What had happened, in the village of Hogsmeade, to nearly bring the wizarding world to utter desolation? 

Lord Voldemort had happened.

But wait! Notice that the Dark Lord _nearly_ brought an end to the wizarding world. How was the skin of the proverbial teeth escaped by? What had happened to cause _this?_

Harry Potter had happened.

For seven years, these opposing forces had battled; all to come to climax on this not-too-remarkable summer day. 

* * *

"Harry," asked Ginny, biting her lip, "should I get the Fizzing Whizbees, or the Sugar Quills?"

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. "Ginny, we do this _every_ Hogsmeade weekend. We come down to Honeydukes, and you ask me, Fizzing Whizbees or Sugar Quills? And you _always_ choose Whizbees. No matter what I say. _Always._ Why do you even ask anymore?"

"_Fine_," she huffed. "I'll just choose for myself." She defiantly - and reluctantly - put down the Fizzing Whizbees and dashed to the cashier with the Quills, as if not wanting to give herself a chance to change her mind, and be predictable.

She didn't notice, and neither did Harry, the fact that the Fizzing Whizbees disappeared with a soft _crack!_ as soon as they left Honeydukes.

They wandered for a few minutes, Ginny not speaking to Harry, while Harry attempted to apologize. It wasn't working too well. 

"Come _on_, Ginny!" he begged his girlfriend. "It was only a joke!" She ignored him.

But then...

__

Crack!

Masked figures appeared around them all, sending the Hogsmeade high street into a panic. Curses flew in all directions and, before they noticed what was happening, Harry and Ginny were being dragged off the main road, unable to move. They couldn't see who was taking them. A distant hope, in Harry's mind, was that they were being taken to safety by Order members. A _very _distant hope.

They were taken into...the Hog's Head? Yes, they were being dragged through the grimy entryway of the Hog's Head pub. 

The two Gryffindors were tossed unceremoniously into a heap by the back of the bar. 

"Insolence!" a high pitched voice roared from the top of the stairs. Within moments, the tall form of Lord Voldemort was practically gliding down the stairway. Harry's scar seared.

"He was supposed to be _delivered _to me!" He turned to one of the masked figures. "_You_ said his _beloved_," he sneered the word toward Harry, "would _take _the Portkey. Didn't happen, did it? Now _he _knows. You know who I mean."

Harry idly thought it was odd for Voldemort to say the words, "You know who."

"Untie him," said the Dark Lord abruptly. "And give him back his wand. I want this over with _now_."

Soon, Harry was standing opposite Voldemort, doing the exact last thing he had thought he would be doing, that unusually warm summer day. Duelling the Dark Lord.

"You remember how this is done, correct?" sneered the snake-like face. Voldemort seemed hurried. Usually, he took a bit more time.

__

What did Dumbledore tell me to do...

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

__

Oh bother...

Harry knew there was no time. Not a single chance of coming out of it alive.

"NO!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

* * *

Confusing, eh? Well let's have a play-by-play of that last bit. As Voldemort threw his curse at the Boy-Who-Was-Most-Likely-Going-To-Die, Ginny - who had been clumsily untied when the incompetent Death Eater had untied Harry - jumped in front of the curse. The first "NO!" was her. The _second_ was, of course, Harry, screaming because Ginny had sacrificed herself for him. The "YES!" was clearly the Dark Lord, who had closed his eyes, not wanting to see what horrible turn of events was going to foil him this time. Clearly, hearing the screams, he had thought Harry had been killed.

Too bad for him though. When he _did _open his slit-like eyes, he quickly cast another killing curse on the grieving Harry, once again not taking the "sacrifice of love" thing into account.

In an entirely unexpected turn of events, Voldemort was killed from the curse backfire, resulting in a enormous magical explosion. Somehow, the magic saved both Harry _and_ Ginny, who was believed dead.

After the blast - which was louder than anything Harry had ever imagined, and he had no idea how he had not gone deaf - silence overwhelmed the village. In fact, Hogwarts was also noiseless. Harry wondered if perhaps he _had_ gone deaf after all.

But then, a song began. Harry knew it at once. It was phoenix song. The trilling seemed to be magnified a hundred times. And, for the first time, words accompanied the eerie music.

Harry had a hard time placing the voice. It wasn't until Ginny whispered, "It's the Fat Lady," that he knew who the singer was.

The Fat Lady's magically magnified voice rang out over the Hogwarts Grounds, as well as through the entire village of Hogsmeade:

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please, Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees, Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff, For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff, So teach us stuff worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot, Just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot._" 


End file.
